Craft and StructureEasy–MediumPurpose of a passage describing a device
Craft and Structure practice question
The tide clock has only one hand and a dial marked not with hours but with 'high water', 'low water', and the intervals between. It does not show the time of day, only the state of the sea, which is what a fisherman leaving harbour most needs to know.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
- A. To explain what a tide clock shows and why that is useful.Correct
- B. To describe how to build a tide clock.
- C. To argue that ordinary clocks are useless.
- D. To recount the history of the tide clock.
Answer: A. To explain what a tide clock shows and why that is useful.
What it shows (the state of the sea) and why (the fisherman needs it).
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. To describe how to build a tide clock.
- No construction is described.
- C. To argue that ordinary clocks are useless.
- Ordinary clocks are not attacked; they just show something different.
- D. To recount the history of the tide clock.
- No history is given.
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